1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image formation device, in particular, to a multiple function image formation device including a service function unit for processing a request for a service function of the image formation device, and a method of the image formation device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent and continuing years, multiple function image formation devices become more and more well known. A multiple function image formation device includes functions of a printer, a copier, a facsimile, a scanner, and others in the same frame. For example, a plotter and a scanning device are actually installed in the multiple function image formation device, and software realizing functions of a printer, a copier, a facsimile, and a scanner are installed in the software system of the device; by switching the software related to each of these functions, the image formation device can be driven to work as a printer, a copier, a facsimile, a scanner, or others.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2003-341175 discloses a technique in this field.
Because the multiple function image formation device has functions of a printer, a copier, a facsimile, a scanner, and so on, the system of the device needs to manage a large number of functional items. For this reason, in the system of the multiple function image formation device, service functions (below, abbreviated as “SF” where necessary) are prepared corresponding to these functional items to manage these functional items.
However, the functional items required in the multiple function image formation device depend on the configuration of components in the multiple function image formation device. In order that the service functions can support all possible configurations of the image formation device, in the related art, the service functions are built to manage all kinds of functional items possibly required in the multiple function image formation device. For example, even in an image formation device without the function of a facsimile, it is necessary to prepare the service functions to be able to manage functional items required by the facsimile as long as the facsimile function is probably going to be added to the device in the future.